IPL Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals Highlights: Kuldeep Yadav starred with the ball as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets at the Eden Gardens to gain two important points

Kuldeep Yadav starred with an impressive four-wicket spell as he set up Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a comfortable six-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their Indian Premier League match on Tuesday night. Kuldeep (4/20) flummoxed Rajasthan Royals batsmen with his wrist spin as the visitors were bowled out for 142 from 19 overs after being sent into bat. KKR chased down the modest target with two overs to spare with Chris Lynn top-scoring with a 42-ball 45 while skipper Dinesh Karthik remaining not out on 41 off 31 deliveries. Sunil Narine played a typical but brief explosive innings of 21 off just seven balls at the top of the innings to lay the foundation of the successful run chase. (Scorecard)

Earlier, Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav scalped four wickets to help Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) recover from a Powerplay blitz by Rajasthan Royals (RR) openers and skittle them out for 142 in 19 overs. In-form English wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (39 from 22 balls; 5x4, 2x6) and Maharashtra's Rahul Tripathi (27 from 15; 4x4, 1x6) toyed with the KKR pacers to race to 49/0 after three overs. But once Andre Russell (2/13) got the wicket of Tripathi, it was all downhill for the away side as Kuldeep (4/20) saw off skipper Ajinkya Rahane (11), Buttler, Stuart Binny (1), and Ben Stokes (11) to rack up his best figures of the season.

23:10 IST: OUT! Ajinkya Rahane brings back Ben Stokes in the attack for a wicket and Stokes gets him one. Lynn trying to dispatch Stokes on the off-side, miscues and Anureet Singh at the boundary takes a good catch.

23:06 IST: Kolkata Knight Riders need 27 more runs in 30 balls.

23:04 IST: Four! Karthik reverse sweeps Ish Sodhi for a boundary on the first ball of the over.

23:02 IST: Four! Three boundaries in the over for KKR and the supporters are happy. Lynn going for the heave, miscues as the ball travels past the keeper for a boundary.

22:59 IST: Four! Length delivery with a bit of width from Archer gets the treatment. Lynn rocks back and cuts the ball with power for a boundary. COnsecutive boundaries for the home team.

22:58 IST: Four! Full and wide from Anureet Singh and Karthik throws everything he has at the ball as it races away to the boundary.

22:52 IST: Four! Slower bouncers from Unadkat and Chris Lynn waits and rolls his wrist over the ball as it races away to the boundary. A much-needed boundary for Lynn.

22:44 IST: Four! Back of a length delivery from Unadkat, Karthik stands tall and punches the ball through the cover.

22:37 IST: OUT! The Ish Sodhi balls pitches outside off and takes a big turn to miss Rana's bat and rap him on the pads. The umpire turns down the LBW appeal and RR take the DRS. Replay shows that the ball crashed into the leg-stump.

22:32 IST: Six! The fireworks continue. Nitish Rana comes down the track and carves Gowtham inside-out for a maximum.

22:15 IST: Four! Full and wide from Ben Stokes and Lynn drives it beautifully through the covers for a boundary. Immaculate, that shot was.

22:14 IST: OUT! Ben Stokes gets his second. Robin Uthappa miscues the pull off the short delivery as Rahul Tripathi at the boundary takes a good catch.

22:10 IST: Kolkata Knight Riders 32/1 after 3 overs.

22:09 IST: Four! Short delivery on the off stump, Lynn makes room and guides the ball towards third-man region for a one-bounce boundary.

22:08 IST: SIX! Jofra Archer bowls a short pitch delivery and Chris Lynn pulls it away handsomely for a maximum.

22:02 IST: OUT! Ben Stokes gets the breakthrough. Short delivery has been a perennial enemy of Narine as he mistimes the pull, the ball goes high up in the air and Krishnappa Gowtham at mid-off takes a good catch. Both Stokes and Gowtham are pumped up!

22:00 IST: Kolkata Knight Riders 21/0 after the first over.

21:58 IST: SIX! 6,4,6,4. The first four deliveries. Narine seems in a hurry. The long on fielder is a mere spectator and sees the ball sail away towards the stands. Narine is on fire.

21:31 IST: Four! Jofra Archer, the new batsman in, gets off the mark in style. Short delivery from Prasidh gets punished instantly as Archer pulls the ball with authority.

21:29 IST: OUT! The break has done the trick yet again for the home team. Prasidh bowls a fuller delivery, Sodhi hits it towards off as the ball ricochets to his boots and flies off to the keeper behind the stumps. Unlucky. Rajasthan 128/8 in 16.3 overs.

21:23 IST: Strategic timeout -- Rajasthan Royals 128/7 in 16 overs.

21:17 IST: SIX! Short delivery from Mavi and Unadkat pulls it away for a flat maximum in the deep. Useful runs for the visiting team.

21:16 IST: Four! Full from Mavi and Unadkat hits the ball on the up for a glorious boundary.

21:13 IST: OUT! Kuldeep Yadav is on fire as he collects his fourth wicket in form of Ben Stokes. Fuller, slower delivery from Kuldeep takes the leading edge of Stokes' bat as Kuldeep takes a good follow through catch.

21:09 IST: OUT! Shivam Mavi after conceding a bag full of runs gets a wicket. Short delivery from Mavi, gets extra bounce and angles catching Krishnappa Gowtham off-guard. The steep ball brushes his gloves and flies to Karthik. Rajasthan lose their sixth, Kolkata are back on track.

21:04 IST: Rajasthan Royals 100/5 in 12 overs.

21:00 IST: OUT! Kuldeep Yadav is turning the tide in his team's favour. Stuart Binny fails to read the googly and stretches forward to defend the ball, misses and Karthik, behind the stumps, does the stumps. The square-leg umpire raises his finger without any doubt as Binny was way outside his crease.

20:56 IST: OUT! Sunil Narine now gets in the act. Back of a length delivery from Narine, Samson was looking to work the around, misses and gets rapped on the thigh. Huge appeal from Karthik and the bowler gets turned down and they opt for the DRS. Replay shows that the ball crashes into the stumps. Samson departs for 12. Rajasthan Royals 95/4 in 9.3 overs.

20:53 IST: Four! Samson reaches out and sweeps the length ball to backward square leg for four. A good over ends with a boundary

20:49 IST: OUT! Kuldeep Yadav is doing wonders for his team. Buttler tries to reverse sweep Kuldeep, gets an top edge as Jason Searles at short-fine takes an easy catch. Kuldeep Yadav is eleated and the Eden Gardens is on their feet. Buttler departs for 39.

20:19 IST: Four! Full delivery from Narine gets driven majestically by Buttler. He is on a roll here.

20:18 IST: Four! Tripathi welcomes Sunil Narine in the middle with a boundary. Narine fires in a short delivery and Tripathi rocks back and pulls the ball for a one-bounce boundary.

20:16 IST: The 3rd over of the game goes for 28 runs! Buttler is on fire here. 4,6,4,4,6,4 -- This is how the Shivam Mavi over transpired. This is also the second time Mavi has conceded 28 off an over in this IPL.

20:10 IST: Four! Consecutive boundaries from Tripathi off Prasidh. Rajasthan Royals are off to a solid start here. 19 runs has come of the second over. Prasidh has been clobbered.

20:09: IST: Four! Short and wide from Prasidh and Tripathi guides the ball away past the fielder at point for a boundary.

20:08 IST: SIX! Prasidh Krishna bowls full and around the middle stump, Tripathi makes room for himself, frees his arms and slices the ball over point for the first maximum of the night.

20:05 IST: Rajasthan Royals 2/0 after the first over.

20:00 IST: First ball DROPPED!! Mavi starts off with a good length delivery, gets extra bounce and gets a thick outside edge of Tripathi's bat and flies wide of Nitish Rana, who got his hands to the ball but could not complete the catch.

Thankyou to the @rajasthanroyals team for allowing me to join the RR family in this years #IPL ! I've enjoyed every minute & made many new friends too. What a last game to be involved in, just happens to be the biggest game of the IPL so far. Come on boys, you've got this !!!

19:00 IST: Hello and welcome to the live blog of the match between Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals straight from Eden Gardens.

Buttler's scores in the last five innings read 67, 51, 82, 95 not out, 94 not out and Buttler along with all-rounder Ben Stokes, who has played in different positions in the batting order, will be the two major threats for KKR. Half of KKR's battle will be won if the Dinesh Karthik-led side can dismiss the English duo cheaply. The skipper will look to go all out with their spin attack to exploit their weakness. That skipper Ajinkya Rahane is in the middle of a lean patch will augur well for the KKR team who will look to conclude their last home match of the round robin league on a high.

With the Eden Gardens slated to host Eliminator and Playoff Two, KKR may have a chance to play again at home if they can finish in third or fouth position in the IPL 2018 points table. KKR batting look a force with the likes of Sunil Narine, Dinesh Karthik and youngster Shubman Gill -- all in fine form. Narine slammed 75 off 36 balls, while Karthik smashed a 23-ball 50 in their big total in Indore.

With his exploits with both bat and ball, Narine has emerged as the most valuable player for KKR and the Trinidadian will once again look to play a key role. Narine's battle with Buttler will be one of the key contests of the game. Skipper Karthik has quietly done his job in the batting and averages a healthy 46.37 (371 runs) and he too will eye a good show with the bat. Nothing much separates the teams in terms of head to head (7-7) count and it seems another mouth-watering contest might be on the cards.